Case Study: CIT
 
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Case Study: CIT – Developing CITings, an employee newsletter

Challenge
The CIT Group is a financial services company based in Livingston, New Jersey consisting of eight diversified operating units. BA was charged with creating a sense of identity for employees in essentially eight different companies.

Background
The CIT Group was traditionally conservative about sharing information with employees. Prior to CITings, it communicated on an "as-needed" basis, which was rarely. Our goal was to secure the support and active participation of employees in aligning themselves with the goals and objectives of The CIT Group through a strong internal communications plan. Part of that goal was to demonstrate that communication between business units, while fostering a sense of corporate identity, could also provide ideas and impetus that would translate directly to a profitable exchange of ideas. 

The Berry Ecke Associates Approach 
The client wanted hard facts ensuring that a sense of corporate identity, teamwork and a cohesive, goal-oriented strategy could be achieved through internal communications. 

A major benchmark study commissioned by another client provided the necessary hard data. This study, which tracked best practice companies, concluded that a strong internal communications plan had a very real impact on the "bottom line." 

Many CITings stories are transactional in nature. Due to the diversified nature of the financial services industry, however, these transactions vary widely among units. Therefore, not only were ties between employees in operating units strengthened by a focused, internal "education" process about other units, but the transaction-driven stories themselves created a cross-sell environment. Cross-sell referrals based on a strong, goal-and-strategy oriented newsletter meant profit potential for the client. 

Impact and Feedback
CITings is a great success story. The CIT Group provides "news they can use" to its employees. In fact, over 98% of employees surveyed said they read CITings. And an astonishing 88% said they read every issue. Moreover, because of its focus on marketable information, the impact of CITings is uniquely measurable over time. Great ideas and strategies from upper-management and marketing are more quickly disseminated across operating units, allowing employees to capitalize on their own strengths as well as "share the glory" of a deal with an employee across the country — or across the hall. 

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